Most Useful Liquid Yeast Strains
Can you use your yeast right after you empty your primary with out a starter if you are brewing a new batch, ofcourse empting it and cleaning the fermentor first and temp storing in a sanitized pail.
Sorry about that, I didn't even think about bumping the thread.
Yes you can. I personally have never done it, but I have spoken to quite a few who have. It is completely possible. In fact, from what a few other brewers have told me, if you pitch your wort over a fresh yeast cake, fermentation starts within a few hours.
I had one guy tell me he pitched his wort over a yeast cake that was from the same day, and within 2 hours the fermentation was going strong.
Sounds like you are right on track.
Cool, i just started a late night / early am brew session and wanted to try that, cool!!
I haven't been able to do this yet. Never had a fresh yeast cake AND wort at the same time. Definitely invest in some NEW (or used if ONLY food items have been in them) mason jars, a quart or larger. I bought a dozen quart jars at Wally World (as I call it) for around $9.
Once you get a few smack packs or vials and save slurry from each fermenter, you will be surprised how fast you can fill them up.
I have some slurry in my fridge that is nearly a year old. In fact, there is a story on Wyeast Labs web site of some guy who found an 8 year old smack pack!!! And... it still worked!
I have to say that with using the yeast again like this, i'm having one of the most active sessions in my fermentor that i have ever had.
I've used used yeast again, but this time i didnt use the whole or the majority of the cake, just a few spoonfuls, its been actively fermenting for 7 days.
I've been researching homebrewing for the last three weeks or so, anxiously anticipating when I'll be able to afford to order my setup (which should be in about a week - SCORE). I feel that i'm beginning to get a pretty good grasp of the whole process overall, extract ofcourse. The idea of doing starters and harvesting yeast is really appealing to me as a money saver, and it seems pretty simple.
My question. Just to clarify. When doing a starter from a white labs vial or wyeast smack pack - given that you allow a handful of days for the yeast to multiply - how much yeast can you expect to gain? would one starter amount to say, 2-3 jars with enough yeast in each for one 5 gallon batch?
Out of curiousity, can one use wheat beer yeast in non-wheat brews? I've got a hefeweizen in the fermenter and although I will probably make another hefe, I was wondering if there are other styles I can use the yeast for.
Maria... you can use ANYTHING in ANYTHING. There are NO hard and fast rules. You want to use ESB ale in a pale? Fine. How about an irish yeast in a amber? Go for it.
Yes it probably will be rank, but try it.
Remember my earlier discussion about splitting yeast? That is part of the reason. I have tried XYZ yeast in a beer that was completely wrong for the style, and sometimes it turns out great.
Experiment!
I'm going to be brewing a double ipa with an extreme amount of malt in it and was planning on using two smack packs in hopes of maintaining flocculation until fermentation was complete. I've never really felt a need to make starters as I've always had good luck using white labs and wyeast smack packs. However for an extremely high gravity beer such as the one I'm about to make it seems like a good idea. Not to mention I pay about $6.50 for a wyeast smack pack and spending $13 on yeast in combination with the large amount of malt, hops and grain in this beer my shopping list is going to cost me a pretty penny. That starter is sounding better and better!